presents and what became of them

henry-
a bb gun- which santa kindly switched out for a much safer airsoft gun. four hours after unwrapping, he accidently shot george. the gun unloaded in the car hitting george in the nose. it ricocheted off and hit him in the eye. he has to wear a patch and take it easy- the patch is an easy sell. taking it easy? i don't think that's in his vocabulary.

a safety kit- did you just read the paragraph before this one? ok, because i seriously think that it's for show and not function.

a gps- santa found a gps at target that was marked down 50% because it was an internet return- so that's a present in an of itself. it brings the phrase "backseat driver" to a whole other level. chris took us out last night and got his first taste of the mechanical female voice.
"if i hear the gps within 100 miles of the house again, i'm throwing it out the window."
the other thing is, it reminds you over and over in a self righteous tone "you are exceeding the speed limit, you are exceeding the speed limit."

samantha-
pocket knife- she lost last years pocket knife Christmas present. but santa doesn't judge.

bow and arrows(real)- she got two arrows with the bow. it's a nice bow too. henry took was in the front yard trying it out and now she's down to one arrow. mr. meanie now has an arrow on his roof. i'll drive to dick's and buy more arrows before i ask him if we can retrieve the lost one. i mean, his name is mr. meanie.

binoculars- what's with the g.i.jane Christmas?

max-
pocket knife- he too, lost his present from last year.

flashlight- he got a headlamp. it served well during caroling. holding music, a baby, and a flashlight is tough work. he had to stay in from caroling because henry doused him with water. henry stayed back too, to keep him
company.

spyglass- he seems to be following the same theme as samantha. not sure what all this is about yet but i will be keeping my ear to the ground. i'll report my findings later.

george-
a cup- sweet sweet george just wanted a drinking vessel to call his own. the only thing more endearing would have been world peace.

darth vader costume- off season costume making- tricky for some elves. not tricky for all.

two light sabers- aka "light savers". why two? one to use, one to share. sweet as ever.

mary jane-
a little girl sized blue exercise ball- she'd like to join the family circus and walk on it like the rest of them.

doll clothes- she'll put clothes on her dolls- how ironic.

santa doll- she would marry hima and move to the north pole in a heart beat.

franky-
the kids made her list for her.
a koda guh book- translated from franglish as dakota girl book. she got a book ALL about labs.

a wagon- i think santa was in the wagon aisle when he spotted a bike trailer for 60$. he couldn't pass up that bargain and he knew that I needed to get my rear in shape. the hills in our hood are killer. but at least i have a cheering section behind me. franky thought she was being belted into the car and began screaming. but the second the bike rolled off down the driveway she fell silent. when we pulled back up the drive- i found her with a zoned out, half asleep expression pasted on her face. mj liked it too.

a baby doll- she says "baby" in such a sweet soothing mama voice. she holds her baby with tender loving care. for the past few mornings and naps, the first word upon waking is "babies?". and quite often it is her last word as she's falling asleep.

beyond all the gifts i can say without a doubt, that the thing they enjoyed most about Christmas was spending time with family.